George milton hughes and george thorn reed



(No Model.)

G; M. HUGHES & G. T. REED. AUTOMATIC ELECTRIG LIGHT EXTINGUISHER.

No. 511,527. Patented Dec. 26, 1893.

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIcE.

GEORGE MILTON HUGHES AND GEORGE THORN REED, Oh BALTIMORE,

MARYLAND, ASSIGNORS TO THE AUTOMATIC ELECTRIC LIGHT EX- TINGUISHERCOMPANY OF BALTIMORE CITY.

AUTOMATIC ELECTRIC-LIGHT EXTlNGUlSHER.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 511,527, dated December26, 1893. Application filed March 1'7, 1893- Serial No. 466,494. (Nomodel.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, GEORGE MILTON HUGHES and GEORGE TnoEN REED,citizens of the United States, residing at Baltimore, in the State ofMaryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in AutomaticElectric-Light Extinguishers; and we do hereby declare the following tobe a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as willenable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and usethe same.

Our invention relates to means, by which to operate and controlmechanism, that will automatically out out, one or more of, a series ofelectric lights, at a predetermined time.

In carrying out our invention we connect the switch, herein sometimes,called a key or button, through which the current is controlled, to anadjustable time trip mechanism, whereby,when said mechanism is tripped,it will automatically operate the key, button, or switch, or analogousdevice, to open the electric circuit, and cut out supply of the Fig. (3,is a sectional view of trip winding spool. Fig. 7, is a like view of theclock gear winding spool. Fig. 8, is a sectional view of the push buttonand switch shown in Fig. 1.

The continuously operating mechanism, A, which actuates or controls thetrip mechanism may be constructed similarly or in the form of anordinary clock gear, with the gear which actuates the time trip arrangedto release the same at a predetermined time and which trip mechanism hasmounted upon the main spring arbor a spool, B, or similar device bywhich to wind said mechanism and which spool is actuated by means of acord or chain, 0, which is of sufficient length to fully wind the springfor running the mechanism for a given time and which cord or chainextends out through the case in which the gear mechanism is located intoconvenient reach to be operated. In the present instance, as abovestated, an ordinary form of clock mechanism is shown, but the windingmechanism may be varied without departing from the scope and purview ofourinvention. Prefer- 25 light or lights in the circuit controlled bythe ably mounted in the same case is a tripping switch or itsequivalent. device shown in the drawings, as constructed Our inventionfurther consists in means for similarto the usual form of alarmmechanism controlling and operating the winding arbor used in clocks,and forming part thereof. On ot' the tripping device, by the mechanismthe arbor,D, of said trip mechanism is mount- 0 which acts on theswitch,which thereby serves ed a spool or gear wheel, E. In Fig. 1, thisis as means for winding up the trip operating elements, and ourinvention further consists in certain novel features, arrangement andcombinations, of mechanism for closing the electrical circuit, all ashereinafter fully described, illustrated in the drawings, andspecifically pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein like letters or" referenceindicatesimilar parts in each view;- -Figure l. is a rear view of a clockmechanism having a tripping attachment corresponding to the ordinaryform of alarm devices, showing the winding mechanism for both, and onemeans, for connecting and controlling the cut out with thetrip; alsoshowing one form of switch. Fig. 2. is a similar view showing anotherequivalent means for connecting the trip mechanism with the switch.Figs. 3, -4,- and 5. show difrepresented in the form of a spool toreceive a cord or chain, E, similar to that shown to wind the clockmechanism proper, and by the unwinding of which cord or chain, thespring which actuates the trip mechanism is wound and upon the trippingof said mechanism and actuation thereof by its spring to rewind the cordor chain upon the spool. This cord or chain is shown in said figure asextending from the spool and connected with one form of lever used foroperating the switch and in the position it occupies when said mechanismis set. This form of switch consists of a case into which the terminalsof the circuit extend and a reciprocating rod or plunger, G, to whichthe knob or button is connected and which is operated in the followingmanner: An arm or lever, G, which is hinged at one end to a suitablesupport, extends up in curved 5o ferent forms or modifications of thelevers. form over the knob and is connected to said zoo knob through aslot in the lever and a pin or bolt engaging the knob, the connectionbeing such that while said parts maintain a fixed relation to eachother, relative to the re-operation of the rod, sufficient endwisemovement is secured. The free end of the lever is provided with an eye,H, and the cord or chain extending from the trip is provided with ahook, E by which said cord or chain is connected to the lever, the cordor chain,in this instance passingthrough an open eye, E or similarguide, secured to the base or support and arranged in such manner thatthe cord or chain shall act upon the lever to force the plunger downwardto cause the same to break the circuit or cut out the light or lightscontrolled by the switch. Where the switch is made to turn, as shown inFig. 3, a lever made in angular or curved form is employed, having atone end a socket or clamp to engage the key and at the other with an eyeto be engaged by the cord or chain.

Another modification in the form of lever for operating the key is shownin Fig. 4, in which a straight lever is employed, having one endconnected with the button and having the cord or chain connected to theother end, in which case the shaft of the button forms the fulcrum ofthe lever.

Another modification is shown in Fig. 5, which consists of a doubleacting jaw, one set of jaws being adapted to engage the key, and theothers to clamp the lever between them, the clamp being controlled bymeans of a set screw in one of the arms engaging the key as shown in thedrawings.

In Fig. 2, a modification is shown, both in the means for actuating orwinding the trip mechanism and also in the means of actuating the switchin which case a gear wheel, L, is. mounted on the arbor of the tripmechanism adapted to be engaged by rack bar, L. This rack bar isprovided with a series of teeth, L L near each end, one set engaging thegear or pinion, L, while the others engage a sector or quadrant rack, Lmounted upon or connected with the cut out. A handle, M, is connected tothe rack bar for moving the same to wind up the spring for actuating thetrip mechanism and at the same time simultaneously act to close thecircuit and throw in the lights controlled by the button or switch bythe engagement of the teeth'ou the rack bar with the pinion and quadrantrack. A

stop, N, is connected to the rack bar to engage the case or other partto regulate or control the movement of the rack bar to hold the bar inits proper relation to the pinion and quadrant rack.

These modifications each accomplish the same end, and in substantiallythe same manner, and as will be readily understood, other modificationsof like character may be employed without departing from the spirit orintent of our invention.

The operation and practice, of our invention, may be thus brieflydescribed:lhe

clock, or other constructionof gears, having been wound up, as also thetripping device, by means of the described connections, with theirrespective springs, the trip 1s set to be actuated at a given time, bythe clock gear,

which when reaching a certain point acts to the cord or chain extendingfrom the spool on its spindle as often as required. It will thus be seenthat by our invention the action of closing the circuit to cut in thelights provide means for automatically cutting out the same anddispenses with special attendance for such purpose and with moreexactness.

It is well known that electric lights are employed by merchants in theirshow wlndows after business hours, when their stores are closed, and itis desirable that the c1rcu1t should be cut outat agiven time. It isusual to employ a janitor or watchman to enter the premises for suchpurpose, or to place a button outside of the premises. This latterpractice is objectionable as mischievous persons tamper with suchexposed key, as is frequently the case, and often by such manipulationnot only cut olf the light at undesirable times, but also injure theconnections. When the switch or other device is left to be operated by awatchman, it involves expenditure for compensation of such service,besides persons employed therefor may, by negligence, accident, oremergency, not perform their duty at the time instructed, sometimesclosing the lights too soon, sometimes not at all. Added to this is thenecessity of intrusting the opening and closing of establishments atlate hours of night, thereby involving risk, if such employ, or persons,who may accompany h1m, should be dishonestly inclined. Our inventionentirely obviates such risks and [mschiefs, as the devices can be set tooperate automatically, as hereinbefore set forth, at a precisepredetermined time.

It will be understood that our invention can be adjusted to close aseries of lights in one or more apartments of an edifice, and leaveothers in the building unaifected by the automatic device embodied inour invention.

Having thus described our invention and the manner of its operation,what we claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates of America, is-

In a light controlling device, clock mechanism, provided withcontrolling trip adapted to be set to a predetermined point by revolublespool, E,journaled to arbor of trip, said spool having outwardlyextending axial pintle, loosely journaled in orifice of hanging plate,depending from upper end of case of the device, winding cord, E,connected at one end to the spool, adapted to be reciprocatingly woundand unwound on periphery thereof, the opposite end of said cord suppliedwith terminal hook, E swinging arm, G, connected at a given point of itslength to switch which, as said arm is lifted, or depressed, willcontrol the electric current, said arm having at its free end eye, H, tointermesh with hook,E in combination with spool, B,j0u1'naled to arborof winding gear, and

